Bob Fitzsimmons, Treasurer of the Republican Party of Virginia (RPV) used the word twat in a facebook discussion a few nights ago. Twat in case you don’t know is sometimes used as slang for the female vulva.

Now, I am not going to sit here and defend the use of that word. It never should have been used. The problem is that if you read the exchange in context, he was referring to the comment that someone else had made as ridiculous. He used the wrong. Obviously he isn’t up on sexual slang words. He should have used the word twaddle, which means stupid speech.

Now, what you can’t see in the above graphic is the comment he was answering. That comment was about why Delegate Barbara Comstock should be the nominee in the hotly contested republican primary simply based on the fact that she is a woman. His comment was about identity politics. I am not sure who, if anyone, he is backing in this contest, but I can tell you that I support Barbara. I like Barbara. I have worked many a days knocking doors in her elections for the state delegate seat that she currently holds. But I don’t support her simply based on the fact that she is a woman. I HATE identity politics. It is a losing game and I have little respect for people who voted based upon gender, skin color, or financial status of the people in the race. To me that is the democrats game and played a big part in why President Obama won his election. On this Mr. Fitzsimmons and I agree. We are never going to beat the democrats in that game, so lets put up the best possible candidate in each and every race. I happen to believe that Barbara is that person. Her voting record speaks for itself. At the end of the day that is what really matters.

What really sits in craw about this entire unfortunate episode is that people who don’t like Mr. Fitzsimmons, for reasons ranging from he is a supporter of conventions over primaries (which I am not) and he is also a big supporter of Ken Cuccinelli and more libertarian leaning people, have used this to try and force him from his job. Insert primal scream here.

This has turned into a national story that has been on HuffPo and in The Washington Post simply because people, who I won’t mention by name, even though I would bet my bottom dollar are involved, are using this to oust someone they disagree with.

The man made a mistake. He used an unfortunate word when he wasn’t clear on the meaning. There is no way that anyone reading what he wrote can misconstrue that he was calling Delegate Comstock a twat or even the young woman he was having the discussion with that word.

Here is the post he was responding to with the name of the person not included:

I also think women are going to be very frustrated about about a man trying to usurp Barbara’s position in this race. If women come out in force for her, it will create a battle cry for Republican women so loud that Howie Lind won’t have a prayer of competing with her. Republican women are a force to be reconed with and I for one want to see this power harnessed effectively in key political races.

His response was the he doesn’t like sexist twat. Now, if he was talking about this woman or Barbara it would make sense that you would be able to replace the word with the name and it would still make sense. But you can’t do that in this case. Because he wasn’t referring to a person, he was referring to the thought of using identity politics.

So, now we have a national story about how republican men and party officials were using sexual terms to talk about a woman when clearly that isn’t what happened.

We don’t need the democrats to do anything, we are doing a bang up job all on our own. Should he have apologized for using that word? Absolutely. Should he lose his job over it? No, a very clear and unambiguous NO. This has been blown out of proportion by people who don’t like him and his stances. Those are the people who should be called out in all of this. Not a man who obviously needs to spend more time with a dictionary.

”Let me be the first to offer my congratulations to Boyd Marcus on his appointment to the Virginia ABC Board. It’s nice to know the exchange rate for 30 pieces of silver these days is about $122,000 per year plus benefits.”

A little background for those not involved in Virginia Politics. Boyd Marcus is a republican strategist, or was. I am sure those jobs will be hard to come by for him from this day forward. Mr. Marcus decided to endorse now Governor Terry McAuliffe in the lead up to the election in November. Pat Mullins is the head of the Republican Party of Virginia. All hard liquor in the Commonwealth of Virginia is sold by the state in locations known as ABC stores. Republicans (or some anyway) have been trying to privatize it for years and have been unsuccessful. I would think this pay check is part of the reason why.

May I just say this makes me very happy. Congressman Jim Moron Moran is set to retire at the end of this term. I really don’t like name calling, I feel we should beyond that in our society, but there are no redeeming qualities to the man, and I mean none.

Of course the same should be said for the idiots that kept electing this scum of a human being. His ex-wife called the police to report that she had been assaulted. Yes, we have elected a wife beater to congress. Which may very well not be the only time in history that it has happened, but the problem is that everyone knew about it and pulled the lever for him anyway. I lived in or around this district for close to twenty years. I personally know many, not just a few, but many, democrats that can’t stand the man. They are perfectly aware of his history and voted for him anyway. Why? Because they would cut off a body part before they would vote for a republican. Even in the last election a pro-choice, pro-gay marriage, libertarian ran and he still ran away with it.

Not only is he a wife beater, he is a racist, an anti-Semite, and he once thought a 8 year old (yes you read that correctly) was trying to steal his car and grabbed the poor child. He was black, so I guess thinking him a car jacker was perfectly reasonable to this man. (Yes that is sarcasm on my part).

He also had to resign his post in the government of the City of Alexandria because of corruption. Of course no charges were ever pressed and he went onto to inflict his damage to the rest of the country. He is scum pure and simple.

This from a Jezebel:

I am voting based on the positions and not whether they, for instance, get blow jobs in the Union Station’s men’s rooms. There is one exception to this rule for me, and that exception is my Congressman, Jim Moran.Jim Moran votes exactly the way I would want my Congressperson to vote — he’s pro-choice, he votes the right way on women’s issues, he’s decent on economic issues (from my perspective — he’s fairly conservative), he’s anti-war. But, today, for the 4th time, I cast my ballot for Jim Moran’s Republican opponent (who, for once, isn’t a rabid anti-abortion freak, thanks NoVa Republicans). Why? Because of his personal life. In June 1999, Mary Moran (née Craig) called Alexandria Police claiming that her husband had hit her. Her husband was, of course, Congressman and former mayor of Alexandria (1985-1990) Jim Moran. Notably, Moran ran for mayor after 2 years as Vice Mayor — a position he was forced to resign as part of a plea deal on bribery charges which, due to his many friends and relationships in the Democratic party, had no effect on his political aspirations or friendships. Mary Moran later refused to testify and divorce papers were filed the next morning instead. Three weeks later, he filed a cross-complaint in their divorce claiming that the marriage broke up over financial problems for which she was supposedly responsible. Yes, when his former wife filed divorce papers because he smacked her around one night, he turned around and blamed the dissolution of the marriage (and, by extension, the argument that precipitated the domestic abuse) on her. It’s not the first or the only time Jim Moran’s laid his hands on someone in anger. In 1995, he shoved Randy Cunningham in the House cloakroom (granted, Cunningham is an asshole, but still) and in 2000, he manhandled an 8-year-old African-American boy that was looking at his car. And let’s not talk about the time he got caught with a $25,000 interest-free loan from a pharmaceutical company lobbyist, or said “the Jews” were the reason we went into Iraq. He is, quite frankly, an embarrassment to the Democrat establishment, which nonetheless clutches him to their bosom because he’s their guy, a member of their party and, thus, not subject to the standards to which we, as Democrats, would certainly hold a Republican challenger. Jim Moran is a wife-smacking, bribe-taking, black child-shaking anti-Semite that has earned the protection of the local Democratic party as well as many prominent, national Democratic women like Donna Brazile and Patricia Ireland in exchange for voting the “right” way. He gets to be the antithesis of a feminist and to live his personal life in opposition to every supposed ideal of the Democratic party because he’d never vote for a ban on partial-birth abortion or a Constitutional amendment on same sex marriage. Well, great. This “my guy because he’s my party” bullshit that I decried yesterday when it came wrapped in the form of National Review Online editor Katherine Jean Lopez is equally abhorrent when practiced by people that I agree with politically and even admire. And if this year, with the Democrats poised to strengthen their majority in the House isn’t the year that the feminists — let alone the women — of the Democratic Party are going to be willing to dump this guy (and the other guys like him) or support a primary opponent, then when will it be the year? Why does he get a pass for wife beating — because of Roe v. Wade? Fuck that. Roe isn’t getting overturned by a House member, and I’m not voting for a guy that gets away with domestic violence just because he votes for laws to send other men to prison for it.

Sadly, she was in the minority and he was allowed to stay until his heart was contented and did damage to our country as a whole.

This is the new war that the democrats are fighting to retain political power. The others, such as the “War on Women”, will be trotted out as needed, but this is the one that they are concentrating on this election season. The mid-terms are now just 10 months away.

The President and his ilk are talking about a raise in the minimum wage and income equality with vigor. There is also a push for the workers at McDonald’s to get a rate of $15 per hour, so they can live on it. Wonderful. But what does a “living wage” really mean? I relocated a year ago to just outside of New York City from just outside of Washington, DC. While I was growing up in Fairfield County, CT it was then the most expensive county in the country to live in. Now that county is the one I just left, Fairfax County, VA. Another words I have spent almost my entire life living in very high cost of living areas. My cost of living is much higher than someone who lives in say rural Nebraska or Wyoming.

In Virginia, I could have gone say thirty miles south and my cost of living would have dropped, considerably in fact. The rents in Fredericksburg, VA are substantially lower. But I wouldn’t have made nearly the same amount of money. The same holds true in Connecticut. I could go live in the “valley” and the housing is much cheaper. A smaller percentage of my income would go to housing. But the better paying jobs are closer to New York City. I could commute that distance I suppose, but then I would then be spending my money on transportation instead of housing. I would also have fewer hours to live a life outside of work.

Making a national minimum wage that is a “livable wage” may sound good on the surface, but it won’t work. You can’t compare the cost of living of very rural areas of the country to large cities. They are just not the same. Buzzfeed did a comparison between two twenty-somethings who made virtually the same salaries, but live in very different areas of the country. The way they live is very different.

Twenty-two-year-old Madeleine Harrington of Greenpoint, Brooklyn, makes slightly less than Brooklyn’s average median income of $32,135, racking in $31,000 a year working two part-time jobs. Harrington also pays less in rent than Brooklyn’s average: Her home costs only $2,000 a month. Still out of her price range, the two-bedroom apartment has been converted into a three-bedroom, although the additional room is “questionable.” There are no walls, and you have to walk through it to reach the bathroom.

While this might be standard for a NYC lifestyle, it is an anomaly in other parts of the country: In Waco, Texas, for example, the average cost of a two-bedroom apartment is just $683. Mia Francis, 22, of Waco, makes well over her city’s average of $26,264, pulling in $33,000 a year, and is able to live in a spacious three-bedroom, two-bathroom house, equipped with a backyard, patio, washing machine, and a driveway for her car. The monthly rent is $900, and she splits it evenly with her fiancé.

Madeleine will have to make a really good bank to live in New York the way Mia lives in Waco. Many people who live in New York aren’t really all that interested in owning a large single family home with a backyard, when it doesn’t have a great deal to offer in terms of entertainment and cultural activities. Many people who live in Waco want no part of the all the noise and congestion that comes with living in a large city. Different people have different needs and that dictates how they live. I personally would never want to live on a farm or in the middle of nowhere. I have friends who recently relocated to a small town in New Hampshire. While I like going to visit them on occasion, the desolate nature of that town is not for me. I am a ‘burbs girl. I live living close to large city, but not actually living in one. I want access to a 24 hour store, but one single CVS works just fine for me.

How can we possibly pass legislation on the federal level that addresses all of these issues? The short answer is that we can’t. The country is far too diverse to say that this is a “livable wage” for the entire country. Small rural areas of the country couldn’t possibly support paying the wages it costs to live in a large city.

If this is to be done, which I am not advocating at all, it would have to be done on a state level. Even then it wouldn’t work, because the costs from one part of the state to another can differ just as widely. Another issue that is not being really being addressed is how do we define “livable wage”?

Does this wage mean that you can live with four roommates in a tiny cramped apartment or does it mean that you can afford a single family home? Does everyone have to able to afford a car? If so, a Hyundai or BMW? What foods does this wage need to cover? Does everyone have to eat rice and beans or do they get surf and turf? I personally am a big fan of Salmon. Should I be able to afford to buy it daily, weekly, or monthly? Does my television have to have WiFi, as many of the brand new models now have? A laptop, desktop, or I-Pad? After all, we had disgraced, and currently jailed, former Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr, talking about how I-Pads are a right. So that must fit into the equation of “livable” does it not? We have had other progressive elected officials saying that homeownership is a constitutional right. In my neck of the woods a single family home can, and normally does, cost over a million dollars.

All of this opens up all kinds of questions about who gets to decide what “livable” means. Does some politician I have never met, that lives off a tax payer salary, get to decide what foods I need to be able to afford to call my way of living “livable”? What if I prefer to eat beans & rice and pasta every night instead of filet mignon and arugula.

This is the problem with politicians making broad statements about “inequality”. They never define what it really means nor does anyone explain how we get there. Yes, we can have the federal government force businesses to pay a higher wage all across the country. But that doesn’t mean that people will live “better”. Those increase costs in labor will show up in costs to the consumer. That is simple economics. President Obama doesn’t tell us how a much a bar of soap will cost in this utopia he is trying to create. Yes, people will make more, but they also will be spending more on goods and services. We also find that certain businesses will have fewer people doing more, as that is what they can afford to pay out in labor costs. So we will find fewer available jobs and fewer hours. That will not help people live better.

Many of the goals of progressives can be described as laudable. That doesn’t mean that in the real world they will work. While I am not making light of the people who live with limited means. It is a difficult life to be sure. The reality is that today in America, what we define as poverty is still rich in comparison to the poverty that we see around the world. With few exceptions in America, we have electricity, we have indoor plumbing, we have potable water, and access to basic needs of life. If we are truly looking to address poverty in the world, America really isn’t the place to be doing so. We should be looking at the huts that people live in South Africa and India. Most of Africa lives in poverty that very few in this country can understand. We can even move much closer to home to Mexico and South American countries and see what real poverty is. We hear that people in the richest country in the world shouldn’t be living in poverty. When you go and look at the rest of the world, we aren’t. A “livable wage” is a myth and won’t address the real issues of why people in this country live in “poverty”. But government never really addresses the real issues, do they?

The City of Richmond, VA is one of the country’s leaders in single parent households. This past weekend the city sponsored a Celebrate Fatherhood celebration in order to draw some attention to this very serious problem. The number grows to 86% percent in black community of the city.

Think about that, barely over 1 in 10 black children grow up in a two parent home. That number is not just stunning, but horribly tragic. Lets face it, a single parent has a much more difficult time raising a child when they don’t have another person in the home to help them. There are things that have to be done, laundry, grocery shopping, cleaning, cooking, and all the other chores that have to be done to keep a household running. When does this parent have time to read a book, throw a ball, help with homework? I am not saying that single parents can’t be wonderful. Many single parents do a great job. But the problems that go along with being a single parent can’t be ignored.

This isn’t even an American issue:

The poverty rate for children living with a single parent has risen 15 per cent since 2001, up from 20.9 per cent to 24.1 per cent. The HILDA survey, managed by the University of Melbourne, has tracked social trends by interviewing the same 12,000 people each year since 2001.

In America:

Over one quarter of U.S. children under age 18 reside with only one of their parents, and as many as half of U.S. children may reside in a single parent family at some point in their childhood. The vast majority – over 85% – of single parents are single mothers.

Poverty is widespread and severe in single mother families. According to the recently released Census Bureau data on poverty in 2010, people in single mother families had a poverty rate of 42.2% and an extreme poverty rate of 21.6%.

There are very real reasons that women end up being single parents. In some cases they leave an abusive relationship and are doing the very best that they can under difficult circumstances. But one of the outcomes of so many children being raised in single parent homes is the fact they grow up thinking that men don’t/won’t stick around. They grow up thinking that men are much more than a sperm donor. It just creates more problems for future generations.

Sadly, in the U.S. our government actually encourages single parent homes through our welfare system. If you are married, you are basically punished. It makes much more sense for a woman who is low-income to not marry. While living on welfare certainly isn’t an easy life, getting benefits is far better than getting none even though your job skills are no different if you are married or single.

Lets take a look at crime rates in Richmond:

Richmond Crime Data

CRIME INDEX

8

(100 is safest)Safer than 8% of
the cities
in the US.

Richmond Annual Crimes

VIOLENT

PROPERTY

TOTAL

1,456

9,361

10,817

annual crimes per 1,000 residents

7.08

45.55

52.63

Violent Crime Comparison per 1,000 residents

NATIONAL MEDIAN3.9

MY CHANCES OF BECOMING A VICTIM

in Richmond 1 in 141

in Virginia 1 in 508

7.08

1.97

Richmond

Virginia

Population 205,533

Richmond violent crimes

MURDER

RAPE

ROBBERY

ASSAULT

REPORT TOTAL

36

54

686

680

RATE PER 1,000

0.18

0.26

3.34

3.31

Population 311,591,917

United States violent crimes

MURDER

RAPE

ROBBERY

ASSAULT

REPORT TOTAL

14,612

83,425

354,396

751,131

RATE PER 1,000

0.05

0.27

1.14

2.41

Property Crime Rate Comparison per 1,000 residents

NATIONAL MEDIAN29.1

MY CHANCES OF BECOMING A VICTIM

in Richmond 1 in 22

in Virginia 1 in 44

45.55

22.50

Richmond

Virginia

Population 205,533

Richmond property crimes

BURGLARY

THEFT

MOTOR VEHICLE THEFT

REPORT TOTAL

1,924

6,500

937

RATE PER 1,000

9.36

31.63

4.56

Population 311,591,917

United States property crimes

BURGLARY

THEFT

MOTOR VEHICLE THEFT

REPORT TOTAL

2,188,005

6,159,795

715,373

RATE PER 1,000

7.02

19.77

2.30

Crimes Per Square Mile

NATIONAL MEDIAN 39.6

173

22

Richmond

Virginia

92% of U.S. cities are safer than Richmond. Which is really a shame. If you have never been there, Richmond is a beautiful city filled with history. But you need to be careful where you go or you will likely end up being a victim of crime. Of course there will be some saying these two things are not connected. The police chief disagrees with you.

“I do know that a large of number of young folks we interact with do not have a father in their home and I think it’s on all of us to recognize a responsibility to help those children,” Chief Middleton said.

Wouldn’t it be a good idea for the government to stop rewarding single parenthood? From Web MD:

In the latest study, reported in the Jan. 25 issue of The Lancet, European researchers reveal that the risks facing children living with one parent may be even more widespread and immediate. They found the risk of suicide was more than twice as high among children in one-parent households compared with those living with both parents

Children in single-parent homes were also twice as likely to have a psychiatric disease, have alcohol-related problems, and were up to four times more likely to abuse drugs

Gee, what a good idea to support that.

“We have a major father absenteeism issue in Richmond,” First Things First Executive Director Truin Huntle said. “I wish more people were discussing why this is such a major issue. We see more people beginning to give some credence to it because they are looking for the root cause of other issues like childhood poverty, poor performance in school. Father absenteeism, broken homes, broken marriages and teen pregnancy are continually being found as the root cause of those problems.”

This is a man who is on the front lines in Richmond, working every day to help children and fathers. Maybe he is someone worth listening to.

And what is it that the government can do to fix this mess that its policies helped to create? Not a damned thing that will work; lots of highly-touted cosmetic actions, but nothing that will reverse the increased (and increasing) percentage of single-parent (single moms mostly) families. And what does that mean? More and more kids will grow up with little or no impulse control, no interest in learning, no interest in doing anything constructive for themselves, let alone anyone else. The cancer grows and it’s too late for surgery, too late for radiation, too late for chemotherapy … what outcome do you expect??

Well the truth is that Lt. Governor Bill Bolling did decide today not to make an independent run for the governor of Virginia. The talk that he may seek an independent bid has been going on for several months now, since he decided to forgo a run for the GOP nomination.

“Based on my discussions with key donors over the past three weeks, I was confident I could raise enough money to run a competitive campaign, but I was not confident I could raise enough money to run a winning campaign,” Bolling said. “Running as an Independent candidate would have required me to sever my longstanding relationship with the Republican Party. While I am very concerned about the current direction of the Republican Party, I still have many dear friends in the Republican Party, people who have been incredibly supportive of me over the years.”

Now, I want to make perfectly clear that I had intended to support Bolling at the upcoming convention in May. So I am not some huge AG Cuccinelli supporter. I have some issues with Ken; issues that are primarily based on some inside info that I know about and will not go into in this public forum. But, suffice it to say, I will still be supporting Ken in the primary election. His the ideal candidate to me? No, but he is a far cry better than Terry McAuliffe.

For those that may need some background, Bill Bolling is serving his second four-year term as Lt. Governor. Four years ago he made a half-hearted attempt at running for governor, and rightly decided that he wouldn’t try to get the nomination. Now many say he gave up his own ambition because it was right for the party. Maybe. But, the truth is that he didn’t have a chance to get the nomination in a head to head race with now Gov. Bob McDonnell. Many say that he is somehow owed this nomination due to that.

Seriously? C’mon folks. The nomination isn’t due to anyone. I can’t stand this whole he is next line thinking that the GOP has been employing for years and years. What exactly has that thinking gotten us? I will tell you what it got us, John McCain and Mitt Romney going against Obama. Now I will be willing to admit that Romney would have a much better chance to going against Obama in 08 then he did in 12. There was no way to deny how much trouble the economy was in four years ago. There were ways to do that last year.

Another thing I found very comical about all the going back and forth over the past few months is the fact that very same people who were supporting Bolling’s indie run were the same people who said I “had” to vote for Romney and put my principles aside. It was the “right” thing to do. I was supporting the party. The very same party that has time and time again pushed against my belief system and consistently raised taxes and increased spending, even on a state level. The last session of the Virginia legislator just recently raised taxes in what is said to be the largest tax increase in Commonwealth history. It is also raised taxes in an inconsistent basis. Some counties will have to pay higher taxes than others. Which seems not to hold the muster by the Virginia Constitution.

Moreover, simply calling a measure a “regional congestion-relief fee” doesn’t change the reality that this is really a tax on real estate. Proponents of the deal will reject that, saying it is a transaction fee. But it is not a flat fee. Instead, the amount paid is tied to the price of the land — reflecting real estate conditions, the surrounding neighborhood and more. That’s a tax, and the state Supreme Court ruled as much in 2008, when it struck down the General Assembly’s previous attempt to impose a regional congestion fee.

These are the people who I am supposed to support? Look, I get that transportation issues in the state have to be addressed, especially in the Northern Virginia area, but that doesn’t mean that this tax hike is going to solve the problem. A big part of the problem is the cronyism that goes on within the Virginia Department of Transportation, which of course increases costs. So much of the budget is wasted. I lived there for 17 years, and I would watch them tear up a road, pave it, then tear it up again. I am supposed to pay higher taxes simply because the people who are hired can’t do the job properly the first time?

I am sure that many are crying in their milk today that Bolling has deciding to take his ball and go home. My question to them is that if a more conservative candidate toys with the idea of running an independent bid will be as open-minded to it? Somehow I don’t think so. During the past few months I have been called a bully. Really? Me, a bully? Hardly. I have been writing this blog for close to four years, how often have you heard me call people names? I don’t do that nor do I like when others do. I see that as unproductive and childish. Another thing that those pushing this run seem to fail to mention are a few facts. Ken Cuccinelli got a larger percentage of the vote four years ago then the governor did. Ken Cuccinelli also ran and won in Fairfax County, VA when he was serving in the state legislator. For those that don’t know, Fairfax County is one of the bluest counties in the state. Every credible poll puts this a very tight race, one that Ken could easily win.

So, for the people who are all upset about Bill Bolling, it is time to dry your tears and get on board. That is what you told me a year ago.

Yep, brace for it Virginia. You have a massive tax increase coming your way. Here are the republicans that voted for it. Sadly, due to schedule, getting someone to primary these people this year will next to impossible. But, I think they knew that and that is why they voted on this on the last day of the session.

“I enjoy being lieutenant governor, and under the right circumstances, it’s something I might consider, but I just wouldn’t be comfortable running on a statewide ticket with Mr. Cuccinelli.”

Lt. Governor Bill Bolling after his decision to not seek the republican nomination for governor.

I said the other day that his email to supporters sounded like sour grapes. Boy, was I right.

It is perfectly understandable that he is disappointed. For those that don’t know, he entertained the idea of running for governor four years ago. He decided against joining the race once then Attorney General now Governor Bob McDonnell made his intentions clear that he would be seeking the nomination. Now he believes that AG Cuccinelli should be doing exactly the same the thing he did. The nomination is owed to him in his mind. Well, the voters have something else to say about that. His complaint about the nominating process being changed to convention as opposed to a primary being the reason he couldn’t win. I don’t think he could have won anyway. Cuccinelli’s supporters are very passionate. They have been working on his campaign for months already. If they were going to show up for a convention, which is much harder to do, they would have showed up on primary day.

The thing of it is, Bolling was never going to beat McDonnell four years ago either. It was politically smart of him to sit it and wait. His real issue is that for the second cycle in a row he can’t garner enough support within the party to get the nomination. He doesn’t seem to get that he may be the reason that is the case. After these comments the reasons seem all the more clear.

It is one thing not to endorse, especially the days after you announce you are suspending your campaign, it is totally another to undermine the ticket. That is exactly what he is doing.

I have some advice for you Lt. Gov Bolling – lay off the sour grapes and put down the glass of self-pity juice; neither are serving you well.

When I was growing up my dad was a coal miner and my mom waited tables. We didn’t have much, but my parents instilled in me a love of Virginia. I never dreamed that I would one day have a chance to help lead this wonderful state, but thanks to you, that has been my privilege.

Throughout my 21 years in public service I have done my best to stand strong for our shared conservative values, while at the same time working with Republicans and Democrats to get things done in state government. I think that effort has been successful, and I hope you agree.

For the past seven years I have had the honor of serving as Virginia’s Lieutenant Governor, and it had been my intention to seek the Republican Party’s nomination for Governor in 2013. However, not everything we want in life is meant to be.

I am writing to advise you that after a great deal of consideration I have decided to suspend my campaign for the Republican Party’s nomination for Governor of Virginia. Needless to say, this was a very difficult decision for me, and I know it will come as a surprise and disappointment to you, but I am confident it is the right decision.

Four years ago I decided to set my personal ambition to be Governor aside and join with Bob McDonnell to create a united Republican ticket. Time has proven the wisdom of that decision. Governor McDonnell and I were elected in 2009 by historic margins, and for the past three years we have successfully worked together to get Virginia back on the right track.

I had hoped that Attorney General Cuccinelli and I would be able to form that same kind of united Republican ticket in 2013. However, late last year Mr. Cuccinelli unexpectedly announced that he intended to challenge me for the Republican Party’s nomination for Governor.

While I was surprised and disappointed by Mr. Cuccinelli’s decision, I was confident in my ability to win our party’s nomination for Governor in a statewide primary election, which was the method of nomination that had previously been adopted by the State Central Committee of the Republican Party of Virginia.

However, in June of this year the newly constituted State Central Committee voted to change the manner in which we will nominate our candidates in 2013 from a statewide primary to a closed party convention. While I did not support that decision, it had a dramatic impact on the 2013 campaign.

For the past several months my campaign team has worked hard to restructure our campaign to effectively compete in the convention process. While we have made a great deal of progress, I reluctantly concluded that the decision to change the method of nomination from a primary to a convention created too many obstacles for us to overcome.

In addition, I know how divisive conventions can be, and I was concerned that a prolonged campaign between Mr. Cuccinelli and me could create deep divisions within our party. The convention process would have forced Republican activists to take sides against their friends in local committees all across our state. The wounds that can develop from that type of process are often difficult to heal.

Conventions are by their very nature exclusive, and at a time when we need to be projecting a positive image and reaching out to involve more Virginians in the Republican Party, I am unwilling to be part of a process that could seriously damage our image and appeal.

While it may have been in my self-interest to have continued the campaign and done my best to win without regard to the consequences of those actions, I have never chosen to place my self-interest ahead of our Party’s best interest, and I will not do so now.

I know that my decision will surprise most people and disappoint many people, but I’m confident it is the right decision. I hope that my friends and supporters, as well as those who have chosen to support Mr. Cuccinelli, will respect and appreciate the reasons for my decision.

It has been a great honor to serve as Lieutenant Governor of Virginia for the past seven years, and I wouldn’t trade the experiences and opportunities we have had for anything in the world. You helped make that possible, and for that I will always be grateful.

I look forward to serving the remainder of my term as Lieutenant Governor and as Virginia’s Chief Jobs Creation Officer, and working with Governor McDonnell and the rest of our great team to build a better Virginia.

I want to personally thank everyone who has done so much to support Jean Ann and me over the years, and I especially want to thank the thousands of people who had already pledged their support to my campaign for Governor. Your support means more to us than words can express. My greatest regret in suspending my campaign is the thought that I have let you down.

In the coming days Jean Ann and I will be evaluating our future political options. I love Virginia and I value public service a great deal. I assure you that I will continue to look for ways to make a contribution to the public life of our Commonwealth.

I can tell you this, I intend to remain actively involved in the 2013 campaigns – perhaps not as the Republican nominee for Governor, but as a more independent voice, making certain that the candidates keep their focus on the important issues facing our state and offer a positive and realistic vision for effectively and responsibly leading Virginia.

Thanks again for your friendship, confidence and support. It is a privilege to serve you, and I look forward to seeing you soon in our travels across Virginia.

Well, no matter how he phrased things, it would probably come across that way. The better course would more than likely been to have just withdrawn quietly and continue to be the voice of the party as he mentions in the last part of his statement.

While campaigning for Governor of Virginia, Bob McDonnell’s campaign as well as his surrogates spent a great deal of time reaching out to all voters. His Woman for McDonnell coalition spread out all over the state to make sure they were accessible to women voters. While many on the right (Ahem Phil) call this pandering, it is smart politics. It is pandering if you are promising people things specifically based on gender, race, or any other group, but actually talking to these groups is simply spreading your message and helping them understand how your policies will help their lives. Governor McDonnell also has continued to do that throughout his term in office.

It has paid off:

Quinnipiac’s poll, conducted Nov. 8-12, found that among women respondents, 48 percent approved of McDonnell to 26 percent who disapproved. Fifty-nine percent of men had a positive view of McDonnell to 27 percent who did not. Overall, the governor’s approval rating stood at 53 percent.

McDonnell fared well among young voters 18 years old to 34, too. Forty-eight percent approved, and 24 percent disapproved.

Among black voters, who broke overwhelmingly for Obama last week, 41 percent approved of McDonnell, and 34 percent did not.

McDonnell’s results are uncommon among Republicans, said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling institute.

“He is the only Republican officeholder in seven states surveyed by Quinnipiac University who get positive ratings from women — almost 2-to-1 in this case — and a plus score from black voters. A 2-to-1 approval rating among young voters doesn’t hurt,” Brown said.

This is a state that two days before this polling voted to re-elect President Obama. Women went to Obama over Romney. So it isn’t that women are pre-disposed to vote only for a democrat. They will vote for the person who they believe best suits their needs and the needs of their families.

Now has Governor McDonnell been everything I hoped for? No, but they never are. Virginia has survived the economic downfall in this country fairly well. We have a rainy day fund (I don’t love these, but I do understand why they are necessary) that has just been increased, our unemployment is low, our taxes have not really increased since his administration took over, and he has kept the majority of his promises. All and all I think he has done a decent job.

My point being that he did the work and it has paid off. This is a lesson that many others in the republican party should take notice of.

I am on my continued road trip for my Get Out the Vote efforts. I finally made it back to my hotel room and I am sitting here watching the news. I am tired, cranky, and thinking of my home in Virginia. A home that is the talk of the nation in many ways right now due to the “perfect storm” that is due to hit sometime tomorrow.

As I am watching the news I am seeing clips of President Obama being questioned about “FrankenStorm”. His response was to remind people to get out early and vote. Which by the way in Virginia you must have cause to vote early.

They then turned to a clip of Mitt Romney talk about the same storm. He was on the stump today talking about how he was due to have a rally in Northern Virginia tomorrow morning I believe it is. He has cancelled that appearance. He mentioned that he spoke to Governor McDonnell who is in the midst of storm preparedness. Romney said he didn’t want to take away the resources that a presidential candidate would require so they can concentrate on getting ready for the storm and asked his audience to pray for the people of Virginia.

This says something about character. You can decide for yourselves whose character should be running the country.

Shall Section 11 of Article I (Bill of Rights) of the Constitution of Virginia be amended (i) to require that eminent domain only be exercised where the property taken or damaged is for public use and, except for utilities or the elimination of a public nuisance, not where the primary use is for private gain, private benefit, private enterprise, increasing jobs, increasing tax revenue, or economic development; (ii) to define what is included in just compensation for such taking or damaging of property; and (iii) to prohibit the taking or damaging of more private property than is necessary for the public use?

Question 2

Shall Section 6 of Article IV (Legislature) of the Constitution of Virginia concerning legislative sessions be amended to allow the General Assembly to delay by no more than one week the fixed starting date for the reconvened or “veto” session when the General Assembly meets after a session to consider the bills returned to it by the Governor with vetoes or amendments?

I feel very strongly about question 1. Of course we should do everything possible to protect private property rights. We shouldn’t be allowed to lose our homes simply because some town wants to increase its tax base and take away someone’s home to do it.

Question 2 I have no opinion on.

There will be additional ballot measures depending on what county you live in. Fairfax County, for instance, will have a $25 million bond question on expending the library system across the county. I am against that. We can do that when the economy improves, there is no reason to go into debt for that.

Virginia 8th will not be added to growing list of Ron Paul delegates. Although they tried. The Tea Party slated delegates will all be going onto Tampa to make sure that the party platform stays conservative.

We also have a rock star in our midst. Meet Evan Draim. One of the youngest ever to be attending a GOP convention as a voting delegate. He is just finishing up his junior year in high school. Evan is helping to spread the tea party message to high school students far and wide and is very active in his schools republican club and an all around activist.

Not only is he adorable, he is very enthusiastic. His energy and committment to the cause is truly infectious.

Here is Evan in his two-minute speech before the convention today. He garnered the most votes, and this was the best attended convention in our history. Almost double the size from 4 years ago.

Here is Marta, Erin, and Evan at our celebration lunch after the convention.

Congrats to all who earned their place at Tampa later this summer. Make no mistake, getting elected delegate is work.

It seems that I will also be joining them down in Tampa in August, so yeah me!!!

As a resident of Virginia I will say that I am not at all pleased to have two choices and only two choices. That said, there are very clear rules in place and every candidate had the same access to those rules. Three candidates never even bothered to put in signatures for review. I suppose they just never got enough to make it worthwhile. One of those candidates, Rick Santorum, lives in Virginia.

Now, our Lt. Governor Bill Bolling is one of the Chairs for the Virginia for Romney campaign. That has led to some charges that he was rooting for this and possibly there was corruption involved. Anyone involved in the republican party in Virginia could have gone to help verify the signatures. I myself was sent an email with an invitation to attend and volunteer to help verify all the signatures. There is no proof whatsoever that Bolling had anything to do with the outcome. It is very unseemly to make these charges without any evidence to support them. Bolling has already announced his bid for the Governorship in 13, I don’t think he would take the chance of ruining his chances to help Mitt Romney get elected. He has had his eyes on the governor’s chair for quite some time. The ballots were verified by mainly volunteers. The likelihood that all of them were corrupted to push the outcome in any one direction is very hard to believe.

The Gingrich campaign responded that “only a failed system” would disqualify Gingrich and other candidates. It said Gingrich would pursue an aggressive write-in campaign in Virginia.

The law is very clear in Virginia, there is no option for a write in campaign. While I am sure that people can still write in a name, it will not be counted. This law has been in place since 1999. This will be the fourth presidential election since these laws have been implemented. In this time no other major candidate has failed to get on the ballot. Here is a list of people who qualified for the Virginia ballots in the past:

So Newt wants me to believe that the system is broken even when the like of Lyndon Larouche or Al Sharpton can get the necessary signatures? That doesn’t pass the smell test to me. Does it to you?

This comes down to one thing and one thing only. They lack the organization necessary to run a national campaign. Running for president is very difficult. As it should be since it is a very difficult job. Even Jill over at Pundit and Pundette; a huge Perry supporter, asked if he was just winging it. Perry turned in sheets that were not notarized. A very simple and free thing to do. It is also is clear indication that no one on Perry’s staff bothered to look at the sheets when they were turned in by the volunteers. I will give Perry credit here as he is not making himself into a victim as Newt appears to be doing. So far he seems to accept the inevitable. He will not be on the ballot for one of the biggest prizes of Super Tuesday.

Look, getting people to sign these petitions is not easy. I am not saying that it is, but they were only required to get less than barely over one tenth of one percent of qualified voters. But the fact that it is difficult is the reason that an organized campaign is vital. You must have the staff to organize the volunteers. Another thing to remember is Virginia has off-year elections. We had an election last month. Every campaign has access to the information on where the voting locations were and what the past numbers of voters showing up to those locations are. This is low hanging fruit, everyone showing up is a registered voter. I volunteered on election day. I only saw people out for Romney, Newt, and Obama. I asked the other volunteers at the results party that I went to and none of them saw any for any of the other candidates that I listed. I personally signed for Cain, Newt, and Rick Santorum. I wouldn’t sign for Romney and was never asked to sign for any other candidate. I am also on the email list for virtually every candidate and was only asked to collect signatures for Romney and Cain.

Newt would like to change the rules because he is unhappy with the results. That is a leftist tactic. I find it abhorrent that Newt is now looking for a way around the rules. While I do feel cheated that I only have two choices on my ballot. The people who cheated me were the candidates themselves.